Braiden Sunshine, a student at the Lyme/Old Lyme High School and a contestant on Season 9 of the NBC reality talent show “The Voice,” defeated Ellie Lawrence in last night’s Knockout round, and will now advance to the Live Shows phase.

Competing on Gwen Stefani’s team, Sunshine, 15, without his signature curly locks and glasses, sang the standard “Feeling Good,” popularized by Nina Simone (and later, Michael Buble), eliciting a “wow” from judge Pharrell Williams within a minute of his performance. (Lawrence sang “Cool For the Summer,” a hit for Demi Lovato.)

Braiden passed his blind audition in Episode 1 last month with a performance of Blues Traveler’s “The Mountains Win Again,” and later advanced in battle in Episode 9. More about Braiden's journey to "The Voice" here, and watch Monday's performance here.